Los Angeles City College launched the STEM Pathways program in 2016 to improve students’ STEM degree completion and transfer to 4-year colleges, particularly for low-income and Latinx students. With funding from the U.S. Department of Education, the program offered a variety of supports including Supplemental Instruction (SI), peer tutoring in STEM, a book and technology loan program, specialized counseling, a math boot camp, and an undergraduate research experience. This report presents findings from three quasi-experimental studies estimating the impact of program participation overall, as well as STEM Learning Center participation and SI participation, specifically on STEM course success and continuation in STEM. SRI found positive and statistically significant results for continuation in STEM and STEM course success.
Brief
Designing Schools with and for Students: Lessons Learned from the Engage New England Initiative
This research brief identifies promising strategies for embracing student voice in school design based on the experience of Engage New England (ENE) grantees. Successfully engaging students in decision-making and school design is not as simple as inviting them to attend staff meetings. As ENE grantees learned, meaningfully engaging students requires planning, scaffolding, and sustained attention to both representation and accessibility for the most historically underserved youth. The lessons ENE grantees learned from engaging in a structured, student-centered design process can help other schools to include student voice in school design and they may also be applied more broadly to ongoing continuous efforts. The lessons also may be useful for supporting the engagement of all participants in school design work, adults, and students alike. These lessons learned are presented and described in greater depth throughout the brief.
Designing Schools with and for Students: Lessons Learned from the Engage New England Initiative is the first of a series of research briefs resulting from SRI Education’s evaluation of the Engage New England Initiative. Subsequent releases will address the implementation of core components of the initiative, the student experience in ENE schools, planning year supports, and student outcomes such as high school graduation and successful transition to postsecondary education or training.
Individualized Education Programs for English Learners With Significant Cognitive Disabilities
English learners who have significant cognitive disabilities are a small but important subgroup of students in U.S. schools. These students may have language- and disability-related needs that teams of educators and family members should address when developing those students’ Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Identifying the appropriate instructional supports for English learners with significant cognitive disabilities can be challenging. This brief highlights some key elements to remember, including the importance of the student’s home language in identification, assessment, and instruction, and the need to build cultural responsiveness among all educators. Educators and family members who participate in IEP meetings for English learners with significant cognitive disabilities can use this brief to plan for quality meetings and successful school experiences for their students and children.
